Injunction issued for protesters blocking Victoria highway to airport, ferry terminal
Credit to Author: Postmedia News| Date: Wed, 26 Feb 2020 23:16:47 +0000
An injunction has been issued, ordering protesters to clear off a major Victoria highway that accesses the airport and ferry terminal.
The protesters gathered Wednesday afternoon as a show of solidarity for Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs standing against the Coastal GasLink pipeline project.
Rumours of the blockade had been reported online and local officials were prepared for the protest to take place between 2 to 5 p.m. Wednesday at the intersection of Patricia Bay Highway (Highway 17) and Mount Newton Cross Road.
Just before 2 p.m., a group of individuals walked into the intersection and have now gathered with signs and drums.
B.C. Transit has detoured buses through the Saanich Peninsula, while Central Saanich Police have redirected traffic around the blockade. Traffic is being diverted at Island View Road and Amity Drive.
Anyone accessing the airport or ferry terminal on Wednesday afternoon should allow for extra travel time.
About an hour after the protest started, the B.C. government obtained a Supreme Court injunction that ordered Jane Doe, John Doe and other unknown persons off Highway 17 from Tolmie Road in the south to Lands End Road in the north. The injunction also covers all on and off ramps.
The injunction also grants the Central Saanich Police, the Saanich Police and the RCMP authority to arrest protesters who refuse to abide by the injunction.
Wednesday’s blockade builds off the momentum from weeks of public action and shows of solidarity for the Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs, who are fighting the Coastal GasLink pipeline project in northeast B.C.
The $6.6-billion Coastal GasLink pipeline is set to extend from Dawson Creek to Kitimat, and has the support of 20 elected band councils along the route. Each of the councils has signed benefit agreements with the company ensuring proceeds that would help each band become less reliant on federal funding.
Wet’suwet’en hereditary house chiefs, however, say the pipeline cannot proceed without their consent, as they assert title over a broader 22,000 square kilometres of traditional territory that is crossed by the pipeline’s route, whereas the elected band councils control smaller reserve lands. Alternate routes were proposed by the clan chiefs but CGL maintained the alternatives were not feasible and would increase costs.
Court injunctions issued to Coastal GasLink order land defenders, supporters and protesters off the construction site so that work can continue, and these injunctions have been executed by RCMP officers in recent weeks, resulting in arrests.
CN Rail was also issued an injunction, after earlier rail blockades halted trains and shipments across the country.
More to come.
There is a planned protest in support of the Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chiefs at Hwy 17 at Mt Newton X Rd from 2-5pm on Feb 26. Police will be on site. Heavy congestion on all through roads and in community cores. Plan extra time for travel. #csaan #yyjtraffic